As the beautiful afternoon light illuminated the wings of this Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly (Papilio glaucus) from behind, I couldn’t help but think of a stained glass window. I love backlighting and these subjects seemed perfect to showcase the effect—I didn’t even have to worry about using fill flash to avoid shadows, because of the translucency of the wings.
I took this image yesterday at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna, Virginia, yet another wonderful local spot for photographing flowers and insects.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Mike Powell 
It’s beautiful. Botanical gardens sound like a real good place to spend some time.
Thanks. They are wonderful places to walk around and observe all kinds of growing things. The one I visited yesterday is spread out over 95 acres. (Needless to say I did not see it all).
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